1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for the production of thermoformable plastic material and, more particularly, relates to the production of the thermoformable plastic material from a mix of plastic selvage and a virgin plastic resin.
In the producton of thermoformed articles from plastic foam material which is generally constituted of plastic foam sheet stock, such as from polystyrene or the like, a significant proportion of the plastic sheet material remains as selvage subsequent to the effectuation of the thermoforming sequence. This selvage can be readily reclaimed and then reutilized as a component of the initial feed material or stock for preparing more plastic sheet stock. As a result, the reclaimed plastic selvage material and virgin plastic resin which are admixed in order to produce the feed stock for the plastic material sheet stock presents an economically advantageous situation in view of the substantial recovery of scrap material formed during the production of the thermoformed articles.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Heretofore, prior to admixing the virgin plastic resin and the reclaimed selvage, it has been the common procedure to independently process and remelt the reclaimed selvage and then to subsequently admix the remelted scrap with the virgin plastic resin. Consequently, this required a cumbersome reclaiming system and apparatus necessitating the utilization of separate selvage melt processing arrangements frequently rendering the reclaiming of selvage time-consuming and uneconomical.